PESHAWAR: A Peshawar High Court bench on Wednesday declared illegal an order of the Pakistan Air Force’s Peshawar base commander to restrict the vehicular and equipment movement of a private company engaged in the ground handling services of different airlines at the Bacha Khan International Airport.

Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Musarrat Hilali accepted a petition of Gerry’s Dnata, a joint venture company having foreign investment of Emirates Group, against a letter of the base commander issued to the Peshawar Airport Security Force’s chief security officer last year about restriction on the movement of the petitioner’s vehicles and ground handling equipment for security reasons.

The bench announced the short order after hearing the arguments of lawyers for the petitioner and respondents, including the PAF base commander.

Move challenged by private company working at BKIA for a decade

Ali Gohar Durrani, lawyer for the petitioner, said his client was engaged in airport ground handling services of various airlines, had offices in Peshawar, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Quetta and Multan, and had good reputation in its field.

He said the Civil Aviation Authority director general had given approval for the renewal of licence agreement to his client to provide the ground handling services at the Bacha Khan International Airport, Peshawar, besides other airports through a letter on Dec 8, 2016.

The lawyer said that permission was effective from April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2022 and that the licence fee levied on that account had already been paid by the petitioner.

He said the petitioner had been carrying on its business at the BKIA for 10 years.

Mr Ali Gohar said his client had also signed the standard ground handling agreement with the Pakistan International Airlines in line with the one prescribed by the International Air Transport Association with in relation to the ground handling services at the BKIA.

He said his client found itself at odds with the Shaheen Airport Services, a subsidiary of the Pakistan Air Force, over the agreement for reasons of competitiveness and therefore, his client was harassed in one way or the other.

The lawyer said the PAF base commander issued a letter to the Airport Security Force on July 5 asking it to restrict the movement of his client’s vehicle and ground handling equipment for security reasons.

He claimed that the SAPS had influenced the CAA across the country at those airports where the petitioner company operates by seeking the stoppage of the work of the company for the sole reason of getting the petitioner out of competition without any lawful authority so that its place should be taken by SAPS.

The lawyer said the petitioner’s license was intact and the company had not violated any terms and conditions of the licence.

He added that the petitioner was bringing investment into the country and had 100 per cent of its employment offered to Pakistani nationals only.

The PAF lawyer said the movement of the petitioner company vehicles was restricted due to security reasons as military operations were in progress in different areas.

He requested the court to dismiss the petition keeping in view the security situation.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2018